My passion is community arts and in Llwyngwril we have an organisation called Celfyddydau Celynin Arts. Our mission is to bring local and affordable access to the arts to the village and surrounding area.
We have a programme of concerts throughout the year in Llwyngwril Gallery. Support from the Arts Council Wales Night Out Scheme enables us to bring professional musicians to a small local venue.
We also run workshops and community projects, giving the young people, in particular, some exciting choices of activities, which is important in this rural village with limited public transport.
It's also a community dependant on tourism for income, and many jobs are seasonal. This means that out of season, many families have limited means, which in turn limits the activities of the young.
We ran the first Film 15 project in 2006, funded by European Social Fund, via the Social Risk Fund, where 15 young people were taught filming skills by lead artist, Emma Macey.
Each youngster, aged 14 upwards, wrote, organised, directed, filmed, and edited their short films, which were entered initially into the Pink Snowball Awards, at Y Tabernacl in Machynlleth.
Some of the films went on to be shown in a number of overseas countries, and to win nominations and awards in other national and international film festivals.
UPDATE: Celfyddydau Celynin has had a busy 2008 and completed a drama project in March with the teenagers in the village, which ended with a showcase of their work. There's a junior drama session each Friday at 4.30pm in term time.
Some of our youngsters participated in the making of Dream Girl with Film 15 Productions, a Bollywood inspired film which will premiere at the Pink Snowball Awards in Machynlleth on 27 October.
Some of our young people also took part in Film 15's annual project where each group made a short film, and the one made by our youngsters is called Indiana Hughes, which will also be shown at the Pink Snowball Awards.
We have had a programme of concerts throughout 2008 and an exhibition by 11 local artists.
Debbie Ashton
To contact any of the organisations mentioned see the links (right).
